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INCREASING CHANCE OF FLARES: Big sunspot AR3153 has developed an unstable delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for strong explosions. NOAA forecasters say there is a 25% chance of M-class solar flares and a 5% chance of X-flares today. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
MAUNA LOA IS CHANGINGTHE SKY: On the Big Island of Hawaii, the world's largest active volcano is putting on a show. Mauna Loa has been erupting for days, with lava shooting as high as 150 feet on Tuesday. Tourists are flying in from all over the world to watch.
The sky is changing, too. One volcano away from Mauna Loa, the Gemini Observatory cloud camera on Mauna Kea is recording the effect of the eruption on the heavens.
Gemini cloudcam image found and processed by Frankie Lucena
This snapshot shows a light pillar, which appeared on the first night of the eruption (Nov. 27th). Ice crystals in the air above the volcano caught the light from the primary vent, spreading the glare into a vertical beam.
Where did the ice crystals come from? Probably from an ordinary cirrus cloud, which happened to be floating by when Mauna Loa erupted. There is another possibility, however. The volcano itself spewed water vapor into the air, freezing when it reached cirrus cloud-altitudes. If so, Mauna Loa provided both the light and the ice.
Amateur astronomer Frankie Lucena has been monitoring Gemini cloudcam footage since Mauna Loa blew its top. On Dec. 1st he caught this fireball:
The volcano didn't create the meteor, but it did surround it with the hue of lava. Mauna Loa's glow is turning the night sky red. The mechanism may involve the scattering of light from volcanic smog, or vog, a visible haze created when sulfur dioxide (SO2) and other emissions chemically interact with sunlight and atmospheric oxygen.
More sky phenomena may be in the offing. According to the USGS, Pele's hair (strands of volcanic glass) fragments are being wafted great distances from the volcano's vent, while approximately 180,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) are entering the atmosphere every day. Got a picture? Submit it here.
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Every night, a network of
NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On Dec 03, 2022, the network reported 3 fireballs.
(2 sporadics, 1 Nov. omega Orionid)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (
PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding
new ones all the time.
On December 3, 2022 there were 2316 potentially hazardous asteroids.
|
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
2022 WM7 | 2022-Nov-28 | 0.2 LD | 11.6 | 4 |
2022 WJ11 | 2022-Nov-28 | 6.9 LD | 10.7 | 29 |
2022 WE11 | 2022-Nov-29 | 0.8 LD | 9.9 | 4 |
2022 WW11 | 2022-Nov-29 | 1.4 LD | 13.4 | 15 |
2022 WS5 | 2022-Nov-29 | 4.9 LD | 11.7 | 25 |
2022 VB2 | 2022-Nov-29 | 9 LD | 8.4 | 33 |
2022 WP8 | 2022-Nov-30 | 14.5 LD | 8.5 | 52 |
2022 WE5 | 2022-Nov-30 | 4.1 LD | 8.5 | 11 |
2022 XC | 2022-Nov-30 | 1.8 LD | 11.9 | 19 |
2022 WO7 | 2022-Nov-30 | 12.8 LD | 10.4 | 44 |
2022 WK1 | 2022-Dec-01 | 14.2 LD | 12.2 | 39 |
2022 WT9 | 2022-Dec-01 | 14 LD | 10.2 | 31 |
2022 WS9 | 2022-Dec-01 | 4.6 LD | 18.1 | 34 |
2022 WX10 | 2022-Dec-02 | 7.3 LD | 5.3 | 9 |
2022 WT6 | 2022-Dec-02 | 4.7 LD | 20.2 | 22 |
2022 WN10 | 2022-Dec-02 | 3.6 LD | 22.1 | 15 |
2009 HV58 | 2022-Dec-02 | 12.3 LD | 28.8 | 419 |
2022 WQ10 | 2022-Dec-02 | 3.9 LD | 14.2 | 12 |
2022 XA | 2022-Dec-02 | 1.4 LD | 10.1 | 12 |
2022 XB | 2022-Dec-02 | 1 LD | 9.1 | 7 |
2022 UT8 | 2022-Dec-02 | 11.1 LD | 4.2 | 71 |
2022 WG9 | 2022-Dec-03 | 12.5 LD | 10.7 | 33 |
2017 QL33 | 2022-Dec-03 | 16 LD | 6.9 | 193 |
2022 WD2 | 2022-Dec-03 | 7.3 LD | 7.4 | 25 |
2010 VQ | 2022-Dec-03 | 11.3 LD | 3.9 | 10 |
2022 WR9 | 2022-Dec-03 | 7.2 LD | 13 | 13 |
2022 WO5 | 2022-Dec-04 | 19.2 LD | 9.1 | 38 |
2022 WQ5 | 2022-Dec-04 | 5.8 LD | 11.6 | 27 |
2022 XD | 2022-Dec-04 | 3.5 LD | 6.9 | 13 |
2022 WB5 | 2022-Dec-05 | 5.8 LD | 11 | 27 |
2022 VP1 | 2022-Dec-05 | 17.3 LD | 7.1 | 56 |
2022 WA6 | 2022-Dec-06 | 4.4 LD | 13.9 | 22 |
2022 WV8 | 2022-Dec-06 | 15.6 LD | 7.2 | 29 |
2022 WF8 | 2022-Dec-06 | 8.8 LD | 7.6 | 13 |
2022 WK9 | 2022-Dec-07 | 6.1 LD | 14.3 | 33 |
2022 WO10 | 2022-Dec-08 | 4.9 LD | 4.8 | 9 |
2022 WP11 | 2022-Dec-09 | 11.9 LD | 17.3 | 74 |
2022 WW | 2022-Dec-10 | 19.2 LD | 6.2 | 30 |
2019 XY | 2022-Dec-10 | 3.6 LD | 12.9 | 9 |
2003 YS70 | 2022-Dec-13 | 10.4 LD | 4.1 | 5 |
2019 XQ1 | 2022-Dec-13 | 14.5 LD | 9.8 | 30 |
2018 XU3 | 2022-Dec-13 | 14.8 LD | 10.3 | 28 |
2021 XS4 | 2022-Dec-14 | 14.5 LD | 9.7 | 23 |
2015 RN35 | 2022-Dec-15 | 1.8 LD | 5.9 | 85 |
2022 WU11 | 2022-Dec-17 | 11.6 LD | 10.5 | 31 |
2016 YE | 2022-Dec-18 | 18.6 LD | 4.8 | 23 |
2014 HK129 | 2022-Dec-20 | 6.7 LD | 11.6 | 216 |
2017 XQ60 | 2022-Dec-21 | 18.8 LD | 16 | 45 |
2022 UD9 | 2022-Dec-22 | 4.6 LD | 10.3 | 159 |
2022 RD2 | 2022-Dec-22 | 13.9 LD | 1.1 | 7 |
2013 YA14 | 2022-Dec-25 | 2.7 LD | 10.5 | 68 |
2022 TE14 | 2022-Dec-25 | 11.2 LD | 7 | 127 |
2018 YK2 | 2022-Dec-26 | 15.8 LD | 15.1 | 98 |
2022 WV9 | 2022-Dec-27 | 6.6 LD | 7.3 | 45 |
2010 XC15 | 2022-Dec-27 | 2 LD | 10.1 | 182 |
2021 AE | 2022-Dec-28 | 16.5 LD | 15 | 23 |
2021 NF | 2023-Jan-02 | 17.9 LD | 11.3 | 40 |
2011 WR41 | 2023-Jan-03 | 15.8 LD | 8.9 | 34 |
2019 AY3 | 2023-Jan-04 | 16.8 LD | 19.7 | 62 |
2021 TL | 2023-Jan-09 | 14.2 LD | 8.5 | 75 |
2014 LJ | 2023-Jan-14 | 4.8 LD | 3.5 | 7 |
2012 BV13 | 2023-Jan-16 | 12.2 LD | 6.7 | 134 |
2020 BP | 2023-Jan-20 | 5.2 LD | 16.9 | 26 |
2019 BO2 | 2023-Jan-24 | 12.1 LD | 16.2 | 21 |
2019 BZ4 | 2023-Jan-24 | 16.5 LD | 5.6 | 20 |
2020 BZ14 | 2023-Jan-26 | 8.8 LD | 6.7 | 54 |
2022 SO113 | 2023-Jan-29 | 10.5 LD | 3.5 | 73 |
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
| The official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory |
| Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary |
| current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page |
| Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| the underlying science of space weather |
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